Friday, March 26, 2010

I attended a two-part seminar on Vatican II's important (and first) document, "Sacrosanctum concilium" last night and this morning. With the new translation of the Mass prayers coming up, the Liturgy document of the Council was a big magnet. The audience was filled with priests, many of whom were old enough to have remembered the whole journey of the Church from the modest (but significant) changes in the Mass and Liturgy of the Hours under Pope Pius XII all the way through to the present.
Of course, there have been changes in the Liturgy that nobody now alive can remember. One of them was the subject of an off-the-cuff type remark by a speaker. Looking ahead to this weekend's Palm Sunday, he said that the procession with branches and the singing of "All Glory, Laud and Honor" had been ignored by Rome for a thousand years, but heartily enjoyed in France all the while. ("All Glory, Laud and Honor" was written by Theodulph of Orleans--not the new "Orleans" either.) Thus, concluded the speaker, "All the fun stuff in the Liturgy comes out of France."
More fun stuff from the seminar as time goes on; it was quite interesting!

Nunblogger

Catholic sister (nun) of the Daughters of St. Paul, an international community founded in 1915 for evangelization in the world of communication. Singer, writer and speaker for Pauline Books & Media (US) currently working on digital projects for my community and its publishing ministry.